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Monday, July 7, 2014

Vienna - St Stephen Cathedral

Date: 12th April 2014

Allah has said in "Surah 29 (chapter) verses 20, "Travel through the earth and see how Allah did originate creation; so will Allah produce a later creation: for Allah has power over all things".Inspired with Allah's word in his last Holy Book of 5, Al-Quran, I have always observant of the house of worship, i.e. churches, temples, mosque whenever I travel abroad. I will step inside into any of House of Allah whenever I visited them. It was really crowded inside and outside of St Stephen's cathedral on that Saturday noon. I somehow managed to snap few photos with my IPhone inside the church though it was forbidden by the cathedral administration for any tourist to bring in their camera. It is an amazing church, I was captured by its beauty and I hope you guys would agree with me from the photos and the history of how the cathedral was built that I shared from the Wikipedia.

St. Stephen's Cathedral is the
mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna. The cathedral, built
in Romanesque and Gothic, seated in the Stephansplatz. The idea and the construction was largely initiated by
Duke Rudolf IV in 13th century. It stands on the ruins of two
earlier churches, the first a parish church consecrated in 1147. Being the most
important religious building in Austria's capital, St. Stephen's Cathedral has
borne witness too many important events in the nation's history and has, with
its multi-coloured tile roof, become one of the city's most recognizable
symbols.

Vienna had become an important
centre of German civilization in Eastern Europe by the middle of the 12th
century. In 1137, Bishop of Passau Reginmar and Margrave Leopold IV signed the
Treaty of Mautern, which referred Vienna as a city for the first time and
transferred the St. Peter's Church to the Diocese of Passau. Under the treaty,
Margrave Leopold IV also received from the bishop extended stretches of land
beyond the city walls, with the notable exception of the territory allocated
for the new parish church, which would eventually become St. Stephen's
Cathedral. Although previously believed to have been built in an open field
outside the city walls, the new parish church was likely built on
an ancient cemetery dating back to Ancient Roman times. It was an evident found
from excavations carried out for a heating system in year 2000 which revealed
graves of 2.5 metres below the surface, said to be dated in the 4th century.

The church was solemnly dedicated
in 1147 to Saint Stephen in the presence of Conrad III of Germany, Bishop Otto
of Freising, and other German nobles who were about to embark on the Second
Crusade. Although the first structure was completed in 1160, major
reconstruction and expansion lasted until 1511. Repairs and restoration
projects continue till present day. From 1230 to 1245, the initial Romanesque
structure was extended westward where both west wall and Romanesque
towers still exist. In 1258, a great fire destroyed much of
the original building, and it was constructed over the ruins of the old
church and consecrated 5 years later.

In 1304, King Albert I ordered a
Gothic three-nave choir to be constructed east of the church, wide enough to
meet the tips of the old transepts, which was consecrated in 1340, i.e. on the 77th
anniversary of the first consecration. The middle nave is largely dedicated
to St. Stephen and All Saints, while the north and south nave, are dedicated to
St. Mary and the Apostles respectively. In 1359, Rudolf IV laid in the vicinity of
the present south tower the cornerstone for a westward Gothic extension of the
Albertine choir. This expansion would eventually encapsulate the entirety of
the old church, and in 1430, the edifice of the old church was removed from
within as work progressed on the new cathedral. The south tower was completed
in 1433, and the vaulting of the nave begun in 1446 and was complete in 1474.

Take note of the roof beautiful pattern, symbol of the cathedral

In
1469, Emperor Frederick III prevailed upon Pope Paul II to grant Vienna its own
bishop, to be appointed by the emperor. Despite long-standing resistance by the
Bishops of Passau, who did not wish to lose control of the area, the Diocese of
Vienna was canonically established on 18 January 1469, with St. Stephen's
Cathedral as its mother church. In 1722 during the reign of Karl VI, the see (diocese) was elevated to an archbishopric by Pope Innocent XIII. The politics inside the House of God was what I learned from the story lines in Ken Follet's novel, Pillars of Earth.

During World War II, St.
Stephen's Cathedral was saved from intentional destruction at the hands of
retreating German forces when Captain Gerhard Klinkicht disregarded orders from
the city commandant, Josef Dietrich, to "fire a hundred shells and leave
it in just debris and ashes". On 12 April 1945, however, fires from nearby
shops started by civilian looters as Russian troops entered the city were
carried to the cathedral by wind, severely damaging the roof and causing it to
collapse. Fortunately, protective brick shells built around the pulpit,
Frederick III's tomb, and other treasures, minimized damage to the most
valuable artworks. The beautifully carved 1487 Rollinger choir stalls, however,
could not be saved. Rebuilding began immediately, with a limited reopening on
12 December 1948 and a full reopening on 23 April 1952.

Built of limestone, the cathedral
is 107 metres long, 40 metres wide, and 136 metres tall at its highest point.
Over the centuries, soot and other forms of air pollution accumulating on the
church have given it a black colour, but recent restoration projects have again
returned some portions of the building to its original white. Standing at 136 metres tall, St. Stephen's Cathedral's massive
south tower is its highest point and a dominant feature of the Vienna skyline.
Its construction lasted 65 years, from 1368 to 1433. During the Siege of Vienna
in 1529 and again during the Battle of Vienna in 1683, it served as the main
observation and command post for the defence of the walled city, and it even
contains an apartment for the watchmen who, until 1955, manned the tower at
night and rang the bells if a fire was spotted in the city.

The main entrance to the church
is named the Giant's Door, or Riesentor. The tympanum above the Giant's
Door depicts Christ Pantocrator flanked by two winged angels, while on the left
and right are the two Roman Towers, or Heidenturme, that each stand at
approximately 65 metres tall. The Roman Towers,
together with the Giant's Door, are the oldest parts of the church.

The glory of St. Stephen's Cathedral is its
ornately patterned, richly coloured roof of 111 metres long, and covered with 230,000 glazed tiles. Above the choir on the south side of the building the
tiles form a mosaic of the double-headed eagle that is symbolic of the empire
ruled from Vienna by the Habsburg dynasty. On the north side the coats of arms
of the City of Vienna and of the Republic of Austria are depicted.

The black cathedral somehow looks a bit scary though beautiful. It was like seeing a dark ages. I personally did not feel the warmth and the peace like the way I felt the presence of God, in his ubiquitous unique way whenever I entered His house. Maybe it's because the cathedral was built to show off some human powers not the Glory of our monotheist God. I'm merely expressing my view over this gigantic cathedral. My apology to speak out this way, Viennese.Main source of reference: Wikipedia